What car do you drive and would you recommend it?

ESBlonde

I recently read (but can't remember where) that all headrests are made removable (pull up out of the seat), to be used in an emergency to smash the window and get out or stab the zombie and attach the jump leads. Does that provide an unsafe option for comfort?
Also I once had a car where the front and rear headrests were interchangable but they were slightly different, could it be some joker has swapped yours around?

FX_Munkee

Currently:-
2008 BMW 325d not exactly exciting but it does what it does very well, which is blast up and down the motorway everyday commuting. Is extremely reliable.

2008 Volvo XC90 (Mrs Munkee's) basically because we have 3 kids and I couldn't face having an MPV. Turns out it's perfect for the job of transporting family. Permanently looks like a farm vehicle inside. Not the most reliable but not disastorous.

1993 MX-5 actually a Japanese import so Eunos Roadster. this is my 3rd and I've owned this one for 10 years now I think. Get's about 1000-2000 miles put on it a year, brilliant fun and I recommend anyone to get one. Incredibly reliable. I wheel it out of the garage in April, chuck it at our local garage and it passes its MOT no issues every year.

Best car ever is a toss up between My Alfa 159 2.4 jtd completely remapped and went like a train, or my Opel Manta 400 (long, long ago).

Sporky

ESBlonde said:

I recently read (but can't remember where) that all headrests are made removable (pull up out of the seat), to be used in an emergency to smash the window and get out or stab the zombie and attach the jump leads. Does that provide an unsafe option for comfort?
Also I once had a car where the front and rear headrests were interchangable but they were slightly different, could it be some joker has swapped yours around?

The headrests are not interchangeable, but I have experimented with removing and reversing the driver headrest - it makes it a bit better but I'm not sure about crashworthiness.

stickyfiddle

FX_Munkee said:

Currently:-
2008 BMW 325d not exactly exciting but it does what it does very well, which is blast up and down the motorway everyday commuting. Is extremely reliable.

2008 Volvo XC90 (Mrs Munkee's) basically because we have 3 kids and I couldn't face having an MPV. Turns out it's perfect for the job of transporting family. Permanently looks like a farm vehicle inside. Not the most reliable but not disastorous.

1993 MX-5 actually a Japanese import so Eunos Roadster. this is my 3rd and I've owned this one for 10 years now I think. Get's about 1000-2000 miles put on it a year, brilliant fun and I recommend anyone to get one. Incredibly reliable. I wheel it out of the garage in April, chuck it at our local garage and it passes its MOT no issues every year.

Best car ever is a toss up between My Alfa 159 2.4 jtd completely remapped and went like a train, or my Opel Manta 400 (long, long ago).

This makes me happy. I fully intend on having one at first opportunity.

Clarky

VW Passat Estate SEL 3.2 V6 FSI 4-Motion
nice and comfy inside, easy to drive, very nice on long journeys
plenty of power, great handling for such a big car, very good brakes
can fit a pair of Marshall 4x12 cabs in it no prob
'ordinary Passat' looking on the outside - which I quite like because it does not draw attention to itself or its performance..
mine's a 2008 and has been very reliable so far.. I really like it..
had it since 2009 and still feel no reason to replace it

dindude

2016 VW Passat GT. Only had it a few weeks, my previous cars have been smaller and nippier but I'm loving the waft. For everyday commuting it promotes a much more relaxed drive.

Last three cars have been VW's, they're a bit on the boring side, but everything is in the right place and works, whenever I've drifted to another brand I always find really annoying things to have to live with.

strtdv

2014 BMW 125d

I got it as an ex-managers car 10 months old with 4k miles on it and about £5k worth of extras for £13k off the new price. It's incredibly comfy, has loads of extras, and is also very fast for a diesel hatchback while still being capable of 57mpg if you drive sensibly.
Couldn't recommend it at new prices though as it's an absolute fortune for what it is and the depreciation in the first year is painful!

Axe_meister

Re MX-5. Fantastic car , but you can pick up an MGTF in much better Nick/age/Milage for the same money. Mid engined and an even bigger boot (one at the front and one at the back)

Axe_meister

Saying that you can pick up an S1 Elise for about 6K these days

stickyfiddle

Axe_meister said:

Saying that you can pick up an S1 Elise for about 6K these days

Yeah, but they're a bit shit. The roof is awful, the engine is awful, the handling is awesome but it'll literally put you in a tree in the wet. And you'll die.

I say that as the son of one of their former senior engineers... The mk2 with the Toyota engine is where the smart money is.

And MGTFs are just plain shit

thomasross20

2007 Ford Focus - 95k miles and going strong - maintenance costs next to nothing.

menamestom

richardhomer said:

Ford Focus 1.0L Ecoboost.

Bought it new 2 years ago, when a career change involved handing back my company car.

Its quiet, surprisingly good fun on twisty roads, cheap to run and faster than you might think 125bhp would be.

No faults (though the Ford dealerships I've dealt with aren't great). I'd definitely have another and definitely recommend it.

We've got the Cmax with the same engine.  Currently going up and down hills in Spain and it's fine.  The Cmax probably weighs a few hundred KG more than the focus but it doesn't feel underpowered.  By brother has it in a Fiesta and has remapped it to around 140bhp and it is very nippy.  Sounds pretty good as well, (for a 1L 3 cylinder).

CloudNine

2016 BMW 318d Sport. Good car as you would expect a new BMW to be. Hard to find fault. It isn't very sporty in terms of straight line speed, but they do handle very well. Having said that my last car was the 5 series and even though it was huge, still handled brilliantly. I think I preferred the 5 in many ways, although the gearing on this does seem to suit round town a bit better.

I was going to get a Lexus instead, and kind of wish I had just for a change, will probably do that next time.

Cirrus

thomasross20 said:

2007 Ford Focus - 95k miles and going strong - maintenance costs next to nothing.

My last car was an '06 diesel, sold it at 153k having just learned I was supposed to change the timing belt at some point.

Axe_meister

The K-series engine is a cracking engine if you look after it. My old Elise was was inning at about 190bhp, with the socks and springs of the S2. It is a much lighter car. Having driven both in race conditions I personally think the S1 is more of a drivers car. The TF is no Elise but you get a lot of car for the money especially if you get the 160 version

Nunogilberto

14 plate Mondeo Zetec Business 1.6tdci, as a company car.

Quiet, comfortable, drives smoothly and pulls well for a 1.6 (115hp). I average around 53mpg. Huge boot.

My only annoyances are as follows:

1. Service Interval Limp Home Mode. The last couple of times I've got to within 5k of a service and just happen to creep over 2500rpm, a warning will appear on the dash screen, and the car will go into limp home mode until you eventually restart the engine. It seems like a cheap ploy by Ford to get you to commit to a service early. Unless of course I just have a shonky car...

2. The clutch isn't the strongest I've ever had. Reversing up hill can sometimes be a bit of a struggle.

Otherwise, it's nice enough.

Flink_Poyd

Y reg Ford Focus 2.0 Ghia, around 160k, hardly service it but the oil gets changed regularly via a leak, rusting around the arches, central locking doesn't work, was told to change the timing belt at 100k but managed to get another 60k out of it so far. I'm trying my hardest to kill it but it just won't die. It's turning into a pile of junk but utterly awesome at the same time. 
 Highly recommended 

thomasross20

Cirrus said:

thomasross20 said:

2007 Ford Focus - 95k miles and going strong - maintenance costs next to nothing.

My last car was an '06 diesel, sold it at 153k having just learned I was supposed to change the timing belt at some point.

I'm trying to decide what mileage I trade mine in at...

ICBM

thomasross20 said:

I'm trying to decide what mileage I trade mine in at…

500 miles before something major goes wrong, of course.

thomasross20

Gimme a crystal ball
No idea what I'd get in future... part of me thinks... something cool while I'm still young enough to look cool in it.
Other part thinks... something a taxi driver would have so I know it's reliable!
I hate wasting money so probably wont go too fancy (I do like the look of Audis but v. expensive)